Nice! Northwest Greenland Canyons: @NASA_EO

Launched in March 2009, NASA’s IceBridge mission is the world’s largest airborne survey of polar ice. The mission is aimed at filling the gap between the end of the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), and the launch of ICESAT-2 (planned for 2015). In the spring of 2011, IceBridge pilots were busy over Greenland, Alaska, and the Arctic Ocean. On March 29, sunny weather allowed scientists a clear view of deep canyons, or fjords, along the coat of northwestern Greenland. Thin, rocky ridges between the fjords cast their shadows nearly sideways, thanks to low-angled sunlight. Ice rests on the sea surface, and icebergs near the shore poke above the smooth sea ice. The area shown lies in the same region where the Petermann Glacier calved in the summer of 2010. The acquisition of this photograph came right after a key milestone in the IceBridge mission. NASA’s IceBr...